On Subconscious Depiction In The Novel Dream Of The Red Chamber

There is an all-round depiction of subconscious idea in Dream of the Red Chamber, including dream, illusion, dementia, confusion and so on. They had been not only used in characterization, but also permeated into the plot structure of the story. This has made the Dream of the Red Chamber presenting a completely new appearance to the world, and started a new field of vision in the creation of fiction. But the predecessors have talked about either illusion or dream in the field created by Cao Xueqin in the novel, they have not raised them to a theoretical level. This thesis tries to review the great contribution in this field by introducing the conception of the subconscious and further analyses the mental world of dream, illusion, dementia and confusion in the novel. Then the thesis has an insight into the deep artistic connotation of subconscious depiction in the novel and explores Cao Xueqin's artistic origin of subconscious structure. Finally, the thesis generalizes the significance of subconscious depiction in the novel and points out that it is a milestone in the Chinese fiction history.